Fences
BLACK SCREEN:
TITLE:
AUGUST WILSON’S FENCESThe screen remains black. The sound of
a truck rumbling along a street. Two
men are heard talking:
bono (v.o.):
Troy, you ought to stop that lying!troy (v.o.):
I ain’t lying! The n*gger had a watermelonthis big. Talking about . . . “What watermelon,
Mr. Rand?” I like to fell out! “What
watermelon, Mr. Rand?” . . . And it sitting there
big as life.
bono (v.o.):
What did Mr. Rand say?troy (v.o.):
Ain’t said nothing. Figure if the n*ggertoo dumb to know he carrying a watermelon, he
wasn’t gonna get much sense out of him. Trying to
hide that great big old watermelon under his
coat. Afraid to let the white man see him carry
it home.
EXT. WYLIE AVENUE, THE HILL, PITTSBURGH—
EARLY SEPTEMBER—MORNING
The rear of the garbage truck, god’s
point of view:
Troy Maxson and JimBono hang on to either side of the
truck as it heads toward its next
collection point.
Troy is fifty-three years old, a large
man with thick, heavy hands; it is
this largeness that he strives to fill
out and make an accommodation with.
Together with his blackness, his
largeness informs his sensibilities
and the choices he has made in his
life.
Of the two men, Bono is obviously the
follower. His commitment to their
friendship of thirty odd years is
rooted in his admiration of Troy’s
honesty, capacity for hard work, and
his strength, which Bono seeks to
emulate.
bono:
I’m like you . . . I ain’t got no time for themkind of people.
troy:
Now what he look like getting mad ’cause he seethe man from the union talking to Mr. Rand?
bono:
He come talking to me about . . . “Troy Maxsongonna get us fired.” I told him to get away from
me with that. He walked away from me calling you
a troublemaker. (anxious) What Mr. Rand say?
troy:
Ain’t said nothing. He told me to go down to thecommissioner’s office next Friday. They called me
down there to see them.
The truck halts. Troy gets down and
heads for heavy garbage cans at the
curb; Bono uses Troy’s shoulder to
ease himself down.
bono:
Well, as long as you got your complaint filed,they can’t fire you. That’s what one of them white
fellows tell me.
troy:
I ain’t worried about them firing me. They gonnafire me ’cause I asked a question? That’s all I
did. I went to Mr. Rand and asked him—“Why? Why
you got the white mens driving and the colored
lifting?” Told him, “What’s the matter, don’t I
count?”
TITLE:
THE HILL, PITTSBURGHTITLE:
1957troy:
You think only white fellows got sense enoughto drive a truck? That ain’t no paper job. Hell,
anybody can drive a truck. How come you got all
the whites driving and the coloreds lifting?
The truck’s white driver watches the
collectors in his side mirror.
troy:
He told me, “Take it to the union.” Well, hell,that’s what I done! Now they wanna come up with
this pack of lies.
He told me, “Take it to the union.” Well, hell,
that’s what I done! Now they wanna come up with
this pack of lies.
bono:
I told Brownie if the man come and ask him anyquestions . . . just tell the truth! It ain’t
nothing but something they done trumped up on you
’cause you filed a complaint on them.
Bono returns the last empty can. Troy
climbs up on the truck.
troy:
Brownie don’t understand nothing. All I wantthem to do is change the job description. Give
everybody a chance to drive the truck. Brownie
can’t see that. He ain’t got that much sense.
Bono in place, Troy slaps the truck.
As it starts moving, Troy pulls a
lever and the compactor crushes the
trash.
EXT. SANITATION YARD—AFTERNOON
Men stream out of the yard, Troy and
Bono among them.
How you figure he be making out with that gal be
up at Taylors’ all the time . . . that Alberta
gal?
troy:
Who?bono:
Brownie!troy:
Same as you and me. He getting as much as we is.Which is to say nothing.
Same as you and me. He getting as much as we is.
Which is to say nothing.
bono:
It is, huh? I figure you doing a little betterthan me . . . and I ain’t saying what I’m doing.
troy:
Aw, n*gger, look here . . . I know you. If youhad got anywhere near that gal, twenty minutes
later you be looking to tell somebody. And the
first one you gonna tell . . . that you gonna want
to brag to . . . is gonna be me.
bono:
I ain’t saying that. I see where you be eyeingher.
troy:
I eye all the women. I don’t miss nothing. Don’tnever let nobody tell you Troy Maxson don’t eye
the women.
bono:
You been doing more than eyeing her. You donebought her a drink or two.
troy:
Hell yeah, I bought her a drink! What that mean?I bought you one, too. What that mean ’cause I buy
her a drink? I’m just being polite.
bono:
It’s all right to buy her one drink. That’s whatyou call being polite. But when you wanna be buying
two or three . . . that’s what you call eyeing
her.
troy:
Look here, as long as you known me . . . youever known me to chase after women?
bono:
Hell yeah! Long as I done known you. You forgettingI knew you when.
troy:
Naw, I’m talking about since I been married toRose?
Naw, I’m talking about since I been married to
Rose?
bono:
Oh, not since you been married to Rose. Now,that’s the truth, there. I can say that.
troy:
All right then! Case closed.EXT. THE HILL DISTRICT—TROY AND ROSE’S
STREET—AFTERNOON
Troy and Bono make their way down the
street to a narrow house. A pair of
lawn chairs sit on the small front
porch. They take the short cut through
the side alley into the back yard. It
is Friday, payday, and the one night
of the week the two men engage in a
ritual of talk and drink.
bono:
I see you be walking up around Alberta’s house.You supposed to be at Taylors’ and you be walking
up around there.
troy:
What you watching where I’m walking for? I ain’twatching after you.
bono:
I seen you walking around there more than once.troy:
Hell, you liable to see me walking anywhere!That don’t mean nothing because you seen me walking
around there.
bono:
Where she come from anyway? She just kindashowed up one day.
troy:
Tallahassee. You can look at her and tell she oneof them Florida gals. They got some big healthy
women down there. Grow them right up out the ground.
Got a little bit of Indian in her. Most of them
n*ggers down in Florida got some Indian in them.
Tallahassee. You can look at her and tell she one
of them Florida gals. They got some big healthy
women down there. Grow them right up out the ground.
Got a little bit of Indian in her. Most of them
n*ggers down in Florida got some Indian in them.
bono:
I don’t know about that Indian part. But shedamn sure big and healthy. Woman wears some big
stockings. Got them great big old legs and hips
as wide as the Mississippi river.
troy:
Legs don’t mean nothing. You don’t do nothingbut push them out of the way. But them hips cushion
the ride!
bono:
Troy, you ain’t got no sense.troy:
It’s the truth! Like you riding on Goodyears!
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"Fences" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 5 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/fences_1316>.
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